


Another Life

by KitsJay



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Child Abuse, F/M, Gen, Team as Family, adoption au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:48:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23363464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KitsJay/pseuds/KitsJay
Summary: When Flynn and Eve need a babysitter for their two kids, Cassie and Zeke, a fourteen-year-old boy appears to babysit. But he's hiding his own secrets.
Relationships: Eve Baird/Flynn Carsen
Comments: 13
Kudos: 58





	1. Chapter 1

There was no louder sound, Eve Baird-Carsen decided with a pillow over her head, than a six- and eight-year-old trying to be quiet at 6:30 in the morning. A groan from beside her signaled that her husband for the past five years, Flynn Carsen, had also heard the muffled thumps and clangs originating from downstairs, quickly followed by a, “Sssh! You’ll wake Mommy and Daddy!” shouted by a high-pitched, feminine voice. Cassie, of course.

“Come on,” Eve said with a yawn, rolling out of bed. She ran a hand through her blonde hair and grabbed an oversized robe off the hook in the master bathroom. “We might as well get up.”

The mound of pillows and blankets marking where her husband was currently burrowing shifted. “Five more minutes,” he mumbled. 

She patted where she thought his shoulder might be. “If you hadn’t stayed up all night working on that translation…” she said, though a fond smile belied her stern tone. One of the reasons she had fallen in love with Flynn years ago was because of his passion for – well, everything. He said he was a “student of learning”, Eve said he was just a kid in a candy store. If someone had told her ten years ago that she would end up marrying a man who collected degrees like stamps, had only a passing familiarity with a comb, and routinely woke her up at two in the morning as he was coming to bed, she would have laughed in their face. Now, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Flynn’s head popped up. “The translation!” he said. With that, he was out of bed and jumping into his pants, lying discarded by the bed, and already wide-awake. Eve needed a cup of coffee to get going in the morning; Flynn only needed a three-thousand-year-old riddle. 

An ominous bang from downstairs, followed by the sounds of Cassie right before she had a full-blown cry, and hushed sounds of Ezekiel alternating between, “Don’t be a baby!” and “Ssh! I’m sorry! Don’t cry! Don’t tell Mom and Dad!”, galvanized her. 

“Best figure out what the monsters are up to,” she said. Flynn grabbed her by the sash of her robe, dragging her back to him. 

“It can wait a minute,” he said, giving her a morning kiss. 

It would have gone on longer had it not been for the fire-alarm level wail of Cassandra from downstairs. 

“Nope, monsters first,” Flynn sighed, letting her go. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

“Alright!” Eve shouted in her command voice from the landing at the top of the stairs. “When I come down there, there better not be any mess!”

Just another typical morning.


	2. Chapter 2

Officially, Colonel Eve Baird-Carsen was a consultant with NATO. Years ago, she had been traveling around the world, fighting terrorists in far-flung places, and saving the world one WMD at a time. 

When she and Flynn had decided to have a baby, she had taken a step back out of her more active role, and now was an official consultant for the high-profile cases that the U.N. did not want leaked out. It was meant to be a temporary position, but the repeated trials of trying and failing to have a baby, capped by the cold doctor’s office where she first learned that due to injuries sustained overseas years ago she was unlikely to conceive had made her rethink going back into the field. She loved it, but she had done her tours, gained a reputation for her strategic thinking and determined attitude, and now had a tidy pension to rest on if she ever chose to retire completely. That wasn’t in the cards just yet. Eve wasn’t the type to sit back completely.

But she did cherish the time she could spend with her children. 

After hearing the news, Flynn had cautiously brought up adoption, and Eve had considered it. She had seen kids all around the world separated from their parents by war-torn country bureaucracies or death, and her heart ached from them. They had talked to an agency a few months later, and two years later, they adopted Cassandra. A red-headed toddler who was already showing signs of genius, she had been shy and hopeful and Flynn and Eve fell in love at first sight all over again. The shyness had worn off, the hopefulness faded into contentment, and she loved crawling into Daddy’s lap and hearing him read her stories of far-off lands with booby-trapped tombs and secret lairs, or asking Eve to brush her hair and braid it into ornate loops around her head that made her look like a princess.

The plan was to adopt one child, but Cassie, in her oh-so-innocent way, had asked for a brother, and that was how they ended up with Ezekiel, or Zeke. 

The agency had warned them about him: Australian accent, but no way to track down the family; a little scamp who had already run away from several foster homes and taken off with cash from the foster mom’s purse; an absolutely irresistible grin that got him into more trouble than his light-fingered ways.

An adjustment period had followed for all of them. Flynn had taken time off his work at the library to help Ezekiel adjust to his new surroundings, and Cassie to adjust to no longer being an only child, and Eve had gone on part-time hours to help. A few frantic phone calls from Flynn, a few reassurances to Cassie that they still loved her, and a lot of patience with Zeke, and they were now a happy family. 

“Gotta get to the library, love you, bye!” Flynn shouted as he ran out the door. 

“Wait!” Eve shouted. Flynn popped his head back in. “Forgetting something?”

She watched as Flynn went through the motions of checking his pocket – wallet, check – his bag – cell phone, check – and his briefcase – translation notes, check. He looked at her, flummoxed, and she waited.

“Oh!” he shouted. “Of course, I’m sorry.”

He ran over to her and gave her a quick kiss before turning to leave again.

She sighed. “Not that it’s not appreciated, but I was actually referring to them.” She pointed to where Cassie and Zeke were arguing over who got the toy in the cereal package. “Remember? Summer vacation?”

“Right!” Flynn said. He clapped his hands together. “Who wants to go with Daddy to the library?”

Cassie raised her hand enthusiastically before running off to gather her pink and purple princess backpack from her room. Ezekiel looked less enthused, but a raised eyebrow from Eve, and he relented with a heavy sigh. 

“But it’s so bo-o-o-ring,” he complained.

“Tough, mister. Now get going or you’ll make Daddy late,” Eve said unsympathetically.

“You did clear this with Judson and Charlene, right?” Eve asked Flynn as soon as the kids were out of earshot.

“Yes,” Flynn said, then twitched. “I mean, sort of. Judson said it was fine.”

“And Charlene?”

“Well…”

“I’m ready, Daddy, I’m ready!” Cassie cried, running down the stairs and straight into Flynn’s legs. He swung her up into his arms and gave her a quick hug.

“There we go, my tiny timely toddler!” he said, letting her down again as she giggled. “Zeke!” 

“Coming!” 

“Gotta go, honey, have a good day at work,” Flynn shouted at her, herding the children out the door. The door slammed behind them and Eve sighed, finishing her now-cold coffee. 

“Great.”


	3. Chapter 3

Flynn’s real library was the Metropolitan Library, but a recent break-in at a different branch, The Annex, had temporarily relocated him to help re-catalogue the rare art and manuscripts on display in the secondary location and identify what was missing from the collection. Jenkins, the librarian and caretaker of the Annex, was a dapper-looking older gentleman with a curmudgeonly demeanor that fooled no one. Well, Flynn may have been fooled for a while, but one emergency meeting at the U.N., two children being babysat in the library, and a secret drawer of candy and chocolate for said children had put to rest that particular misconception. 

“Are we going to see Mr. Jenkins?” Cassie asked.

“Yeah! I like him!” Zeke chimed in. His interests, Flynn suspected, were more self-serving. Cassie genuinely liked talking with Jenkins as he let her read some of the less expensive books on math and science, while Ezekiel just liked cadging candy from the man.

“Yes, we will. Do you remember the rules?”

“No touching anything that looks expensive,” Cassie said confidently.

“And no playing with the swords,” Ezekiel said with more than a little disappointment.

“Right. And you listen to Mr. Jenkins when he tells you to do something,” Flynn said. “Or not to.”

He opened the doors to the Annex and felt awash in awe. No matter how many times he saw it, the dusty row of card-catalogues along the back of the staircase leading to the mezzanine, the compass inlaid into the wood floors and buffed to a shine, and the tantalizing scent of history and literature never failed to ignite the scholar in him. 

Jenkins arose from his seat behind one of the wooden desks. “Ah, very good, sir. I see you have brought the children with you today.”

“Summer vacation,” Flynn said in explanation. He swung his satchel onto the already crowded and messy desk that he had claimed for his own. Eve, when she came to visit him for lunch, had tried to organize it, but given up when it slowly crept back to his disorganized standards. “Until we can work something out more permanent.”

“I see.” Jenkins crouched down to address the two. “I believe that we have something new that might interest you.”

“Really?” Cassie squeaked. “Can I see?”

“May I,” Jenkins corrected. He straightened. “If I may?”

“Yeah, of course,” Flynn waved him off, already flipping through books to cross-reference one of the more obscure passages he was translating last night. He suddenly looked up. “Wait! Remember to listen to Mr. Jenkins.”

“We will!” the pair threw out as they excitedly followed Jenkins down the hall, where the children’s books – and an abandoned GameBoy – had ended up. That should keep them occupied until lunch.

The Annex was quiet. Unlike its counterpart, the Metropolitan Library, the Annex was an unassuming gray building tucked away instead of being amid the bustle of the busy New York streets. Not many people wandered in anymore, and though its primary function was still a library, several unkind people at the central office made comments about it being a glorified warehouse. It did store some of the more unique finds, Flynn admitted. Most of the collection here defied the Library of Congress classification system.

So it was with some surprise that he heard the door creak open and a teenage boy stick his head in.

“Hello?” the boy said uncertainly, taking in the dusty surroundings and empty foyer. 

“Greetings and salutations,” Flynn welcomed him, striding forward to pull back the door fully. The boy in question was about fourteen, with straight brown hair that brushed past his ears, and piercing blue-green eyes. He was shorter than Flynn, but Flynn suspected from his build that he was not likely to hit a growth spurt to rectify that. “Can I help you?”

The boy shuffled in, hands jammed into his pockets, and eyes darting around the library. “Is – I thought –“ he stuttered, before pulling out a cell phone. “Google Maps said this was a library.” His accent marked him as a non-native. Oklahoma? Flynn wondered idly. 

“It is!” Flynn flung his arms outward to encompass the, admittedly disorganized, treasures around him. “We’re going through some inventory now, but if you want to browse, we are open to the public.”

“Oh, okay.” The boy shoved his phone back into his pocket. 

“I’m Flynn Carsen, the librarian,” Flynn introduced himself. 

“Jacob. Jake,” the boy said, thrusting out his hand for Flynn to shake.

Flynn took it and shook his hand, trying to impart some reassurance to the boy. Jake seemed jumpy, like he was worried they were going to kick him out any moment. Might be culture shock, Flynn’s mind suggested. Undoubtedly new, if the accent was still that strong.

“Well, welcome. Any particular book in mind or are you just browsing?”

Jake’s face tinged red. “Uh, I was wondering if you had anything on art? Like, art history?”

“Do we have – m’boy,” Flynn said with affectation, “We have loads on art history. What particularly are you interested in?”

“Native American,” Jake said more confidently. “Um, Atakapa?”

Flynn’s eyebrows raised. “Interesting choice. Now, let’s see…” Snapping his fingers, he raced up the stairs and haphazardly began flipping through the catalogue. “Algonquin, Apache, Aztec…. Wait, A-B-C-D…” 

With a triumphant cry, he fished out a card. 

“There we go. Follow me.” 

Jake followed Flynn as he quickly crossed the floor and led him to a back reading room, complete with plush chairs and large wooden work desks lit by the warm glow of green banker’s lights. 

“This section should help you,” Flynn gestured to the books on the east wall. “Let me know if you need anything else. If you want to check anything out, I’m at the front desk, or Jenkins can help you.”

“Jenkins?” 

“Tall guy, gray hair, bowtie. Can’t miss him.”

“Uh, thanks,” Jake said absently. He had already tuned Flynn out, intent on perusing the titles of the books in front of him. Flynn didn’t take it personally; he did the same thing.

Leaving with less fanfare than he entered, he retreated back to his desk to work on the translation and left the boy to his studies.


	4. Chapter 4

Lunch came and went and Flynn was still puzzling out a word that did not seem to appear anywhere else in extant literature. A pile of ten reference books sloped toward the floor without his noticing.  
“Chair? No, that doesn’t make any sense. Uh, sofa, divan…” he mumbled, marking out possibilities on a pad of paper next to him.

Someone cleared his throat beside him.

“Setee?”

“Flynn,” Eve’s exasperated voice pulled him away.

“Oh! Eve!” Flynn checked the time. “Oh, right, you were going to pick up the kids.”

“Yes, remember them?” Eve said good-naturedly. “Do you know where they are?”

“Yes, of course, they’re… um… somewhere…”

“In the workroom, sir,” Jenkins said dryly, indicating the direction with the eraser of his pencil.

“Of course,” Flynn said in a relieved tone. “Thanks, Jenkins.”

“Not at all. Colonel Baird-Carsen,” Jenkins inclined his head.

“Nice to see you, too, Jenkins,” Eve said politely. “It’s good to know that someone is keeping an eye on _our_ children.”

“They’re fine, Eve, they’re just - uh, not here.” Flynn stopped, looking around the deserted workroom. Two empty juice boxes, one with most of its contents apparently making it onto the table rather than into the intended recipient, and some discarded string cheese wrappers showed that the children were there, apparently, but had long since left.

Eve went into full alert.

“Flynn?” she said sharply.

“They’re fine! I’m sure they’re around here somewhere,” Flynn said, though a hint of panic was in his voice as well. Eve always said he got too wrapped up in his work, and the library could be a dangerous place, contrary to popular thought. They could have fallen from the mezzanine balcony or had a shelf of heavy tomes collapse on them or – 

His mind racing with morbid possibilities, he frantically ran through the library rooms and halls with Eve a half-pace behind him, shouting, “Cassie? Zeke? Cassie?”

Eve halted in the hall, took a deep breath, and shouted, “CASSANDRA LINDA CARSEN AND EZEKIEL DANIEL CARSEN, GET OUT HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!”

The sound of her voice boomed through the corridors and Flynn winced. 

“Uh-oh,” he heard from one of the side rooms.

He darted inside to find Jake, sitting with one small red-headed girl with a nervous look on her face and one completely unconcerned toddler grinning at them.

“Oh thank Zeus,” Flynn said, flying toward them and pulling them both into a quick hug. “What have I told you about wandering off?”

“Nothing,” Cassie said innocently. Flynn considered it. It was true, that had never been one of the rules, but it was certainly implied.

“They’re okay,” Jake spoke up. “They were just asking me about the fish motifs in ancient Atakapa art.”

At Eve’s surprised look, Jake added with a small grin, “Not in so many words.”

“Were they bothering you?” Flynn asked.

“We weren’t!” Zeke protested.

“They were fine. I have little cousins back… back where I’m from,” Jake said, his smile suddenly disappearing. “It was kind of fun talking to them.” 

“Well, I’m glad they weren’t a bother,” Eve said, “but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still in trouble for disappearing without telling an adult.”

“But we did tell an adult!” Zeke said earnestly. “Jake knew where we were!”

“Jake doesn’t count,” Eve said. She winced. “No offence.”

“None taken,” Jake said, though his expression looked disgruntled.

“Well, now that disaster is averted,” Flynn started, hoping to get out of one of Eve’s “talks” as well. The look she shot him told him that was probably overly optimistic.  
Sparing a quick minute to tell Cassie and Zeke to stay put, she dragged Flynn by his arm. “What were you thinking? You said you could watch them!” 

“I can! I was!” Flynn said indignantly, before deflating. “No, I wasn’t. I’m sorry. I got caught up in something and lost track of time. They were with Jenkins, so I thought…”

“Thought what?” Eve raised her eyebrows. “That a six- and an eight-year-old would be fine on their own? And it is not Jenkins’s responsibility to watch our children.”

“Um, excuse me,” Jake spoke up hesitantly. 

Eve and Flynn turned to look at him and he seemed to shrink a bit before regaining his nerve.

“Listen, I didn’t mind watching them, and the truth is, I could use a job. Could y’all use a babysitter?”

Flynn was about to accept with some delight – serendipitous! – but Eve forestalled him.

“I appreciate the offer,” she said pragmatically, “But I really don’t know anything about you. Actually – who are you?”

“Jacob Stone, ma’am,” Jake said politely, holding out his hand. “I used to babysit before, in Oklahoma. I can give you some numbers to call if you want.”  
Flynn turned an expectant look at Eve, who wavered. They had been making some calls to some agencies, but summer was the busy season, and they were not quite ready to pay someone the equivalent of their house mortgage just to watch two kids - albeit one a budding prodigy and one with a passion for practicing pickpocketing - for a few months. 

“Please, Mommy?” Cassie said. “He’s fun!”

“Well,” Eve said. She looked at Cassie and Zeke’s pleading eyes, before sighing and looking at Jacob. “I’m going to run a background check on you.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jake said, though his look of surprise said that he thought it might be a little bit overkill. Privately, Flynn might have agreed with him, but he was not about to tell Eve that.  
“And I want those references.” 

“Yes, ma’am,” Jake said, brightening. He fished out a notepad from his backpack and wrote down some numbers and names before tearing out the piece of paper and handing it to her.  
“And I want to talk to your parents to clear it with them,” Eve added.

A flash of uncertainty and – fear? Anxiety? – washed across Jake’s face. More reluctantly, he took the paper back and wrote a single name and number on it before giving it back to Eve.  
“Here,” he said quietly. “That’s my home number.”

“Thank you,” Eve said. “I’ll check these out, and we’ll see.”

She turned to Flynn and gave him a stern look. “As for you…”


	5. Chapter 5

“Well?” Flynn asked anxiously. After the misadventure at the library the first day, Flynn had watched his children like a hawk, which came with the unfortunate side-effect that he hadn’t been able to get any work done. He never regretted their decision to adopt Cassie and Zeke, but he had to admit, things were quieter before they were around.

“His background check came back clean,” Eve admitted, sipping a glass of red wine. The kids were in bed after being read the next part of Gilgamesh, which Flynn had defended to Eve as being entirely appropriate for children.

“Because he’s fourteen,” Flynn pointed out.

Eve stiffened. “They’re our kids.”

“And I love them too,” Flynn said as he dug out some leftovers from the fridge. He dug his fork into the cold rice and shoved it into his mouth. “But a background check on a fourteen-year-old is a bit …”

“Overprotective?” Eve sighed. “Maybe. I just look at them and think what could happen. What would have happened, if they hadn’t come into our lives.”

“They’ll be fine. They can be little monsters, but they’re our monsters, and nothing’s going to happen to them.” He paused thoughtfully. “Well, Zeke might get arrested and Cassie might inadvertently solve a Millennial Problem, but we can make bail with Cassie’s prize money.”

“Not funny,” Eve said sternly, though her eyes glinted with amusement. She absently took the glass to the sink and washed it out. 

“So?”

“So I’m going to call his parents tomorrow and check with them, and then we’ll see.” 

“Well, call quick,” Flynn said around a mouthful of bok choy. “Jenkins is running out of candy.”

***  
“Hello? Is this Mr. Stone?” Eve put on her most polite voice. 

“Who’s asking?” a male voice growled.

“This is Colonel Eve Baird-Carsen,” Eve said diplomatically. “I’m calling in regards to your son, Jake Stone.”

“What’s my son done now?” 

She frowned a little. His background check had come back clean, and his references had assured her that Jake was a responsible, if shy, boy and was marvelous with children. “Ah, well, nothing. I met him the other day and he said was hoping for a job babysitting my kids. He’ll need to work Monday through Thursday from nine to three each day.”

The man snorted. “Hope you’re paying him good money to watch your brats. Boy needs to learn how to work.”

“Excuse me?” Eve said icily.

“Listen, honey, raising Jake was no picnic. Children always disappoint you in the end. Take it from someone who knows.” There was a pause and the sound of a bottle being opened. “Do whatever you want. What the hell do I care?”

“Thank you,” Eve said. “I’ll let him know you approve.”

“I said it’s fine with me, not that I approve. He should be finding a real job.”

Eve refrained from telling Mr. Stone that watching two kids, especially ones like Cassie and Zeke, was real work. “Thank you. Please have him call me when he gets home.”

“Fine.” 

The line abruptly went dead and Eve stared at it for a moment. Jake had seemed polite enough when she had met him. She was starting to think it was a wonder with a father like his. Shaking off her annoyance at the man - she had met worse than him in her time in the military - she thumbed through her contacts and called the Annex.

“You have reached the Annex, this is Jenkins speaking. How can I help you?”

“Jenkins, this is Eve. Is Flynn around?”

“Ah, yes, Colonel Baird-Carsen, I believe he was just -” In the background, she heard Flynn shouting, “No, we don’t play with Roman textiles! They’re very fragile!” and Cassie piping something about playing dress-up in her shrill voice. “One moment please.”

“Of course.”

There were more sounds of squabbling, then the unmistakable sound of Cassie letting out a loud wail at having her new toy being taken away from her. 

“Eve?” Flynn’s voice broke on, panting. “I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

“I heard,” Eve said wryly. “Put Cassie on the phone.”

“Cassie? You want to talk to Mommy? Okay, come here then.”

“Cassie, honey?” Eve said. 

Cassie took a whooping breath. “Mommy?”

“Yeah, honey. I heard you crying. Want to tell me what that was about?”

“I was just playing dress-up and Daddy got mad!”

“Oh, no, honey,” Eve comforted her. “Daddy’s not mad, I promise. But you know Daddy works with very expensive things that are very fragile. He just wants you to be careful with them, that’s all.”

A few more murmured words of comfort and a few more despondent hiccups and little wheezing breaths, and Cassie cheered up and wandered off to accept Jenkins’s bribe of candy. Flynn’s voice broke on again.

“How is it you’re better at that than I am, even when you’re not here?”

“Because I don’t just give in to everything they say.”

“I do not,” Flynn protested. “But she was doing those eyes again.”

“Flynn. Concentrate.”

She could almost hear his focus snap back to her. “You found a babysitter?”

Cautiously, she said, “Jake’s father said it was okay.” She omitted the rest of the story, deciding to have that talk in private with him. “But it’s on a trial basis. I’m still not entirely sure about a fourteen-year-old babysitting both of our kids.”

“I had more responsibility when I was fourteen,” Flynn scoffed good-naturedly.

“You stayed locked in your room reading all the time, Flynn. That’s not more responsibility, that’s just … you.”

“Eh. Have you told Jake yet?”

“Not yet. I asked his dad to pass the message on to him.”

“Why take the long route?” She could hear the phone clattering onto the desk and his footsteps racing up the stairs. A few minutes later, he returned, out of breath. “He says he can start tomorrow.”

“Translation not going well?” she said sympathetically.

“It’d be fine if I weren’t - Zeke, no! Put that down! Gotta go, honey!”

The line went dead for the second time that day and Eve sighed and turned her attention back to the neat stacks of paperwork lining her inbox.


	6. Chapter 6

“I should be back by 3, but if I’m late, I’ll call. Will that be a problem?” Eve said, glancing back at the quiet teenager trailing behind her.

“No, ma’am. If you need me later, that’s fine.”

“Great. Flynn is usually back by 4, but he sometimes gets caught up and…” She trailed off, unsure how to explain her husband’s often eccentric sense of time; he was just as likely to show up an hour early as he was three hours late.

“I’ve seen him work, ma’am,” Jake said with a tiny grin. “I think I get the picture.”

“Well, if we’re late, we’ll call. I’ll call,” she amended with a burst of honesty. She opened the fridge and pointed out the clear bins filled with string cheese, apples, and juice boxes, noting as she did that they were getting low. Even though they were for the kids, Flynn helped himself whenever he forgot to eat lunch, which was often. “If the kids get hungry, they can have these snacks. They’ll try to con you into giving them ice cream, but that’s only for after dinner.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“All of the emergency numbers are listed here. Don’t hesitate to call for anything.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Eve glanced at him. He was paying attention and nodding along to everything she said, even stopping to ask for clarification about a few points, but she had never met a teenager so politely quiet before. It was unnerving.

“Got all that?”

“I think so, ma’am.”

“Great.” She raised her voice and shouted, “Cassie! Zeke! Get down here, please!”

There was a small thunder of pattering feet down the stairs, then the petite redhead and coltish brunette appeared. 

“You guys remember Jake?” she asked needlessly. Cassie was already clinging to Jake’s leg, babbling happily at him, and Zeke even grinned and waved. “He’s going to be your babysitter for this summer.”

Cassie let out a shriek of happy excitement that made Eve and Jake wince. “Do you like math? Can you show us more of the pictures? Can we go back to the library with you?”

Jake looked at Eve for direction, who shrugged. “As long as you don’t bother Daddy while he’s working, Jake can take you there.” 

She waved them over to huddle up and stared seriously at them. “While Mommy and Daddy are gone, Jake’s going to be taking care of you, okay? So you need to listen to him. And Zeke, no telling him made-up house rules.”

“Awww,” Zeke said in disappointment. He had almost convinced the last babysitter that Eve and Flynn let them watch The Walking Dead when they had showed up and set her straight. “And Cassie, you need to be a big girl. No tantrums, okay?”

“Okay,” Cassie said, only mildly subdued from her earlier excitement.

Eve straightened again and looked at Jake. “If you need anything, call.”

“Yes, ma’am. We’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” Eve said, hesitating at the door. A quick glance at the clock told her she was already running late, but she still found herself hovering by the door. “Flynn’s number is also on there.”

“Yes, ma’am. I got this,” Jake said.

“Okay. Give me a hug before I go.” Cassie and Zeke ran toward her and she gave them each a kiss on the cheek. “Love you. Be good!”

“Bye, Mommy!” 

“Hey, who wants to play Uno with me?” Jake asked and the kids were quickly distracted. Eve stared at them a second more, then closed the door.

***

“How were they? Was everything okay?” Eve asked as she walked in. Jake looked up from the kitchen table, his face covered in flecks of green play-doh.

“They were fine,” he said in his Oklahoma drawl. “Cassie here is a little sculptor.”

“Look, Mommy!” Cassie held up a green blob excitedly. Eve oohed and ahhed over it for a second before turning back to Jake with a questioning look.

“Really, they were fine, ma’am,” Jake assured her. “We played Uno for a bit, then watched Frozen, then had snacks at 11, then watched Frozen again, had lunch at 1, and then watched Frozen… again.” There was a slight tension in his words when he told her about the day and Eve smiled sympathetically. Cassie’s favorite movie apparently did not lose its appeal even after three hundred viewings, and if Eve never heard that damn song again, she’d be glad. She was pretty sure listening to it non-stop for the past three months qualified as cruel and unusual punishment. 

“Did you guys have fun today?”

“Jake’s pretty cool,” Zeke said, still molding his playdoh into a vaguely bowl-like shape. 

“Uh-huh.”

“Well, I’m sorry I was late today,” she said, putting her bag down on the couch. “I had a meeting that ran longer than I thought.”

“It’s no problem,” Jake said as he went to wash his hands. 

“Still,” Eve said, feeling vaguely guilty that she had been late on the first day. She had called and checked in right before her afternoon meeting, chatting with Zeke and Cassie a bit before Jake got back on and reassured her that everything was alright. “As a thank you, would you like to stay for dinner?”

Jake’s shoulders tensed and his hair fell in front of his face. “Uh.”

“We’re having chicken and rice,” she said. “You can call your dad to check if it’s okay.”

“No, that’s okay. I had probably better head on home.”

“Are you sure? It’s no trouble.”

“It’s fine. Thank you, though,” Jake said hesitantly. There was a flash of something on his face that Eve couldn’t quite place. “It’s real nice of you to offer though.”

“Well, okay. If you’re sure. If you wait a few minutes, Flynn can give you a ride home.”

The same expression crossed Jake’s face again, more pronounced. “No, no, that’s fine. I can take the bus.”

“Are you sure? It gets dark sooner than you’re probably used to,” Eve said worriedly. “It’s really not a problem.”

“No, ma’am,” Jake said firmly. “I really gotta go. Thank you. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Before Eve could respond, Jake gave Zeke a high-five and Cassie a gentle hug, then quickly was out the door.

“Well,” Eve said staring after him. “That was weird.”

“What was weird, Mommy?” 

“What is weird, my darling girl, is that you two are not cleaned up for dinner. Now mush. Upstairs, wash your hands. Zeke, take the play-doh OUT of your pocket!”


	7. Chapter 7

The weeks flew by, Flynn happily buried in cataloguing and collecting new bits of information to fill his already overstuffed skull, and Eve finally relaxed enough worrying about the kids to get work done. Jake really was doing a great job, she thought. The other night she had come home to find him sitting patiently while Cassie braided his hair and Zeke nattered on about why the Ninja Turtles were way cooler than Power Rangers. She quirked a grin at the memory of the look Jake had given her, daring her to say something at the butterfly clips in his hair.

There was still something that bothered her, though. The way Jake never argued with her or Flynn, never stayed for dinner or let one of them drive him home, the way he was so quiet when he was around them. From the way Cassie and Zeke talked, he was a regular chatterbox with them, but he suddenly clammed up around Flynn and Eve. 

It took until the fourth week before they found out.

They were sitting on the couch enjoying a bottle of wine after the monsters had been tucked into their beds upstairs, when there was a small tapping noise, nearly covered by the sound of rain outside. Eve jumped and spilled her wine.

“Dammit! Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Flynn asked, unconcernedly turning the page of his book.

“I heard something. Like someone was at the door.”

“This late?” Flynn looked up. “Are you sure?”

He was already up and out of his seat striding over to the door as he asked.

“Jake?” Flynn stared at the soaked figure standing dejectedly on the front stoop. Jake’s hair hung around his face and his jacket hung damply against his stocky form. 

“Mr. Carsen,” Jake said softly. “I - Uh. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude. I just, uh. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, this was dumb, I’m sorry.” He turned to leave before Flynn could do more than frown at him.

Flynn put out a hand to catch his shoulder and Jake flinched, a full-body twitch like a horse’s flesh under the crack of a whip. “Jake, hey, hang on, it’s fine, really.”

“Flynn? Who’s - Jake?” Eve appeared from behind him, still holding a dishtowel and glass in her hands. “What are you doing out in this weather? Is everything okay?”

Jake stared at the ground and took a deep, shuddering breath. “Sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t - it’s fine.”

“Jake,” Flynn said firmly, though he kept his voice soft. “Come inside.”

“I really - I shouldn’t have come here, I just didn’t know where else to go.” His voice cracked and stuttered on the last word. Flynn reached out again, slower, and gently guided Jake into the house and shut the door. 

“Let me get you a towel,” Eve said, trading a look with Flynn and already moving to the stairs. “Why don’t you sit down?”

“Don’t wanna get your sofa wet,” Jake muttered.

Flynn laughed. “Are you kidding? We have two kids. That sofa has seen worse things than a little rain. Come on, sit down.”  
Jake perched gingerly on the edge of the couch, leaning forward to let most of the water drip onto the floor rather than the upholstery. 

“Are you okay? What’s going on?”

Flynn had a worried frown as he watched the teenager staring resolutely at the floor. Jake hadn’t met his eyes once since he opened the door and a frisson of unease crept up Flynn’s spine. With a fluid motion, Flynn crossed in front of him, kneeling a little to look up into his face. The corners of Flynn’s mouth drew down and he slowly raised his hand to cup Jake’s chin, tilting his head up for a better angle. Jake resisted at first, then suddenly went limp and let Flynn guide his cheek to the light. A red mark stood out across the broad expanse of his cheekbone. The thin skin around his eye was beginning to purple at the edges. 

“Jake,” he said seriously. “What happened?”

“It was nothing,” Jake said quickly, but his breaths came out in panicky little bursts of air. He shook his head and his face looked pale in the kitchen light. “It’s fine.”

“Jake,” Flynn repeated. “I’m a librarian, not an idiot, remember?” He gave a quick smile to soften the words. 

“It was my fault,” Jake burst out. “I shouldn’ta back-talked him. I know better. I just couldn’t keep my stupid mouth shut and - “

“Hey, no, you are not stupid.”

Eve reappeared downstairs and caught Flynn’s eyes, her expression settling into concern. “Here,” she said, handing Jake the towel. She sat down next to him when he just stared at the towel with a lost expression on his face. With gentle motions, she picked it up and began dabbing at his hair and neck. “Jake? What happened?”

Jake’s hair fell in a curtain around his face, and Flynn wondered if he kept it long for that reason. He was silent for a long time, but his shoulders hitched occasionally. Flynn and Eve exchanged concerned looks. 

“Jake?” Flynn called his name softly.

A choked off noise came from behind the curtain of hair, like a sob being stifled in his chest. Eve wanted to reach out and hold him, comfort him like she did when Cassie’s mind went too fast for her and she got scared, or when Zeke woke up in the middle of the night after another nightmare, but she knew even a comforting touch might not be welcome right now.

Instead, she made shushing noises under her breath, trying to comfort him the only way she could.

Flynn’s mouth had a hard line to it that Eve had only seen once before, when a library benefactor named DuLoc had made a pointed comment about his abilities as a father. His eyes flashed, then he just looked helpless, like he didn’t know what to do to make this right.

“Ssh, sweetheart,” Eve murmured when the noises finally seemed to taper off. “It’ll be okay.”

Jake shook his head slightly, then gathered himself. His face still had tear tracks and the mark on his face stood out against the pallor of his skin, but he pasted a resolute expression on his face and took a deep breath.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to bother y’all. It’s okay, really. I was just overreacting. It’s fine. I need to get home,” Jake said in a rush, trying to sound confident and failing so utterly that it cracked a thin line in Eve’s heart. He pushed off the couch and Flynn stood up with him, blocking his way. Jake flinched and Flynn took a step back. 

There was a tense pause, then Flynn held up his hands and said sadly, “Jake, I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I know.” His voice shook and his eyes were wide. “I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t - I’m sorry. It’s okay. I’m sorry. I have to go.”

“Jake, you can stay - “

“No, no, it’s fine,” Jake said in a rush, clumsily folding the towel and refusing to meet their concerned looks. “Thank you for your hospitality. I’m sorry for intruding.”

“Jake, wait - “ Flynn said, starting to take a step forward before he remembered Jake’s reaction and hesitated.

“Thank you again,” Jake said louder. He was out the door before Eve could lever herself off the cushions. The door shut behind him and left Eve and Flynn staring at each other in the living room.

“That poor kid,” Eve said after a moment. She sat back down on the couch and put her head in her hands. 

“Eve,” Flynn said, and Eve glanced up to see him looking helpless. She sometimes forgot that he wasn’t like her, hadn’t seen all the things she had seen. Flynn lived in his books and library and forgot sometimes that it was sometimes the small cruelties, the one that only a fourteen-year-old boy would face, alone, that cut the deepest. 

“Come here,” she said, opening her arms. Flynn went to her and they held each other until the rain stopped.

*****

Flynn still looked grim the next morning, but the day-to-day bustle of getting the kids ready and breakfast on the table and cleaning up the milk on the floor kept them from discussing the problem. They had stayed up the night before talking quietly in bed, but short of calling CPS, there was little they could do, and there was a good chance that the call would go unnoticed or fall aside when there were so many other kids out there who needed help. It was so easy for a fourteen-year-old boy to get lost in the shuffle. Flynn clearly wanted to revisit the conversation, but with Cassie and Zeke chattering happily at the table, he kept quiet and pasted a smile on his face for their benefit, though it looked subdued to Eve’s watchful eyes.

When the kids were ensconced in front of the television, they retreated to the kitchen, close enough to keep an eye on them but far away enough to have a murmured conversation that wouldn’t be overheard by little ears.

“There has to be something we can do,” Flynn said. 

Eve shook her head. “You saw him. He wouldn’t even admit anything was wrong. If we came out and asked, he’d deny it. CPS will look into it. The best we can do is let him know we’re here for him.”

“He hit him,” Flynn said, sloshing out a cereal bowl with more force than necessary. “His own father hit him.”

“I know, Flynn.” Eve took a deep calming breath. “I know, okay? I’m not ignoring it. I don’t want to see him get hurt either. But if we do anything rash, we could make the situation worse.”

“Worse than his own father hurting him?” Flynn said sharply. 

“Flynn, I know you’re upset,” she started, but Flynn cut her off. 

“I’m going to the library,” he said with a huff, and with a quick kiss for the kids, he left her standing alone in the kitchen, fighting a wave of frustration.


	8. Chapter 8

Weeks went by with no news. Jake stopped coming by and Flynn resumed taking the kids to the Annex, much to Jenkins’s confusion. Eve kept calling CPS and pushed down her frustration as she was told that the “situation was being looked into”. 

It finally snapped one day as Flynn was shelving some new arrivals about Native American art. 

“Jenkins!” he called, rushing down the stairs.

Jenkins looked up with a mild expression from his work. “You bellowed, sir?”

“I need you to watch the kids for a bit. Can you do that?”

“I take it this is an emergency?”

“Yes, Jenkins,” Flynn said firmly. “It is.”

“Then of course. Good luck, sir.”

“Thanks, Jenkins!” Flynn shouted as he ran out the door to his car.

Thanks to Eve’s overprotectiveness - or paranoia - Flynn knew Jake’s address; it was a run-down apartment building in a neighborhood you didn’t walk around in after dark. He located the apartment number and knocked several times.

With a hesitant look around, Flynn pushed the door open, straining his eyes in the dim light. The apartment was old and run-down, but kept neatly clean. The faint smell of stale beer and Clorox mingled in the air. He glanced around, noting the stained second-hand sofa and the remains of a bowl of soup left on the coffee table. A book cover caught his eye, and he picked it up to see the familiar sticker on the spine marking it as a library book from the Annex. He smiled and let it drop back down onto the sofa.

“Mr. Stone?” he called. Eve had warned him against taking any rash action, but he couldn’t stand by and watch as a smart, capable teenager who would one day grow into a fine young man was being abused in his own home. “My name is Flynn Carsen. I was just coming by to - “

He paused, wondering what to say. Talk to you about not hitting your son anymore? How you’re a filthy excuse for a parent? 

Something caught his eye, and he glanced over. A pile of opened mail sat stacked in a messy pile on the counter. Several of them had red notices on top indicating bills that were past due. On a hunch, he picked up the phone and wasn’t surprised to hear the dead air indicating that the service had been turned off. 

Society’s rules had never been ingrained in him like other people, despite his mother’s best efforts, and he felt no compunctions about opening the refrigerator. A gallon of milk, well past its expiration date, stood next to a collection of half-used condiment bottles. The modest remains of a sandwich on a plate were tucked on one of the empty shelves.

A picture was beginning to form in his mind and he began looking around in earnest. The first bedroom was small, barely big enough to hold a twin bed. Despite that, the occupant - Jake, clearly - had managed to squeeze stacks of books onto the bedstand and along the floor of one wall. His shoes were neatly stacked by the closet door.

The next room was marginally bigger, but had a musty odor like no one had opened it for a while. The scent of beer and whiskey was stronger in here, but the room was clean. The bed was neatly made and the carpet still had the fresh tracks of a vacuum. He pulled open the closest, not surprised to find it was empty save for a few hangers and a pair of beaten up boots.

He let out a long exhale and sat down on the edge of the bed. 

The sound of the front door opening interrupted his musing, and he quickly crossed into the main room, surprising Jake when he opened the door holding a small grocery bag filled with cans of soup and cereal.

“Mr. Carsen?” Jake said in surprise. He glanced back at the door. 

“It was open. I came by to talk to your dad.”

“He’s not in,” Jake said, avoiding Flynn’s eyes as he carried the bags to the kitchen. He bustled around, tucking the meager shopping into the small cupboards. “But I can tell him you stopped by.”

“I can wait.”

“I’m not sure when he’ll be back. Is - is this something about me?” Jake asked in a small voice, clutching the edge of the counter.

Flynn crossed the distance quickly and covered Jake’s hand with his own. “No. I mean, well, yes. But not anything you did wrong.”

“Because if it is, I can - “

“Jake.” At the sound of Flynn’s voice, Jake’s protests faltered. “Your dad’s not here, is he?”

“That’s what I said, he’s out - “

“No. I mean, he’s gone, isn’t he? How long have you been living by yourself?” Flynn asked gently. 

Jake shook his head in denial. “No, he’ll be back, he just went out for more beer, that’s all.”

“Jake, please.”

He was quiet for a long moment, then spoke in a harsh whisper. “I thought he had just gone out. Sometimes he… doesn’t come back for a while. The longest he was gone was three days. But he always comes back eventually. And things are better sometimes. He doesn’t yell or drink as much.”

“How long has he been gone, Jake?” Flynn repeated.

“It’s been nearly two weeks. I called the hospitals,” Jake said with a flare of anger, like Flynn had accused him of something, but it quickly deflated. “But he wasn’t there.”

“Did you call the police?”

Jake shook his head. “If the police knew, they’d …” He trailed off and Flynn heard all of the boy’s fears in what he didn’t say. “I’m doing okay. He wouldn’t just leave. Not like this.”

“Jake,” Flynn hesitated. “I looked in his closet. It looks like he took his clothes with him.”

“It doesn’t mean anything!” Jake shouted. “He wouldn’t just leave me! Not like this!”

He clenched his hands in fists at his side and his sides heaved. “Dad’s not… he can be cruel sometimes, but he wouldn’t - he loves me. He wouldn’t just leave.”

Flynn put a hand on Jake’s shoulder and waited, then when Jake didn’t tense up, pulled him into his chest. “It’s okay,” he said against Jake’s long hair. “It’ll be okay.”

He felt the desperate sobs before he heard them, a long, low whine against his chest before Jake started crying in earnest. His hands grasped shakily at Flynn’s jacket like he was afraid Flynn would disappear too. Flynn rocked him side to side like he did with his children. Jake might have been a teenager, but he sounded no older than Zeke just then, crying like the last bit of safety he had ever known, even if it was just comfort in constancy, had been yanked from underneath him.

When the sobs finally subsided, Jake didn’t look up from where his face was buried in Flynn’s chest. 

“What are you going to do?” he asked in a dull voice.

Flynn ran his hand through Jake’s long hair, trying to soothe him while he thought. “I’m not sure yet. But you’re not staying here. You’re going to come home with me. Zeke and Cassie will be glad to see you.”

“What about Ms. Eve?” Jake said with a shaky voice. He pulled away and wiped a hand across his face. 

“She’ll get mad at me for coming over without telling her and spend the rest of the night mothering you,” Flynn said cheerfully. “Now go pack a bag.”


End file.
